LIVAN

Livan
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Alternative rock
Years active 2007 – present
Website www.livan.co.uk
Members
Livan, Will Crewdson, Damon Wilson, John Robertson, David Ryder Prangley

LIVAN is a UK-based alternative rock trio founded by Greek-born musician Livan. Their music is tight, edgy and melodic.

Contents

History

Greek-born UK musician Livan (aka Cosmas Livanos)[1] is the grandson of former Greek Prime Minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and has been in bands since he was 9 years old. The frontman is known for his live shows, which have been played with huge artists like Aerosmith [2] among others. The spirit of LIVAN's music has been touted as "conjuring Billy Idol circa Generation X".[3] Livan, together with guitarist Will Crewdson (ex of influential UK rockers Rachel Stamp, Malcolm McLaren and Johnette Napolitano) and drummer Damon Wilson (Ray Davies, Joss Stone), tracked his most recent release Off the Grid nearly live in the studio with engineer Nat Chan in London.

Members

Discography

Studio albums

Off The Grid

  • Released: 2010 [4]
  • Format: CD
  • Tracks: Undead, Little White Lies, Meet Me On The Other Side, the Silence, Sad, King of the World, the Joker

Happy Returns

  • Released: 2009 [5]
  • Format: CD
  • Tracks: King of the World, Happy Returns, Kiss and Tell, Where I Bleed, Shout, When the Lights Go Down, The Machine, Underground, Still Around, Ghost, Liberated Mr. Hyde

Democr[i]cy

  • Released: 2008 [6]
  • Format: CD
  • Tracks: Life Is Smiling, Democricy, Once Again, No Mans Land, Crawl, If Only, If Jesus Lived Today, Undone, Stay Awake, Scars, Ride To Freedom

Singles

Reception

Michelle St. James (Shakefire.com) described LIVAN's music as "industrial pop punk/alt-rock" going on to say that it "sounds gritty, raw, and fun with crashing guitar and thumping bass lines".[7] Jack Feerick (Pop Dose) said that the "Happy Returns" album was "currently rockin’ my world down to a nub" and went onto to describe the title track as sounding like "the Kaiser Chiefs meets The The with vocals by a slumming Peter Murphy".[8] Rob Smy (Spinner) compared LIVAN to Placebo and Nine Inch Nails.[9] However, Patrick Slevin (Aquarian Weekly) described LIVAN's vocals as an "acquired taste".[10]

References

  1. ^ "Profile / Life-story". http://splashnewsonline.celebuzz.com/2008/07/singersongwriter-cosmas-livano.html#more.. 
  2. ^ "Livan will be the support act for the Aerosmith concert." (in Greek). Greece: MTV Greece. June 9, 2010. http://www.mtvgreece.gr/article/mtv-news/oi-livan-tha-einai-to-support-act-tis-sunaulias-ton-aerosmith/5178. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  3. ^ Ribsout (August 29, 2009). "Livan - Happy Returns". We Are Hunted. http://wearehunted.com/a/#/like/livan_happy_returns/4374781/. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  4. ^ Thomas, Cody R (Mar 30, 2011). "Exclusive Premiere: Goth Rocker Livan’s New Song "Undead"". Revolver (magazine). http://www.revolvermag.com/beta/news/exclusive-premiere-goth-rock-artist-livans-undead-from-off-the-grid.html. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  5. ^ Papapostolou, Anastasios (September 16, 2009). "A Greek Londoner with a Checkered Past Comes to Hollywood". Greek Reporter. http://hollywood.greekreporter.com/2009/09/16/a-greek-londoner-with-a-checkered-past-comes-to-hollywood/. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  6. ^ "Livan working with Kaiser Chiefs producer on album Democrisy". Daily Mirror. June 2, 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2008/06/02/livan-working-with-kaiser-chiefs-producer-on-album-democrisy-115875-20591748/. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  7. ^ St. James, Michelle (August 26, 2009). "Livan: Happy Returns (2009)". ShakeFire.com. http://www.shakefire.com/reviews/cd/livan-happy-returns. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  8. ^ Feerick, Jack (July 24, 2009). "How Bad Can It Be?: Livan, "Happy Returns"". Pop Dose. http://popdose.com/how-bad-can-it-be-livan-happy-returns/. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  9. ^ Smy, Rob (September 25, 2009). "The Crap Stack: Livan, CIAM, Teenage Bottlerocket". Spinner. http://www.spinner.com/2009/09/25/the-crap-stack-livan-ciam-teenage-bottlerocket/. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  10. ^ Slevin, Patrick (September 21, 2009). "Livan - Happy Returns". The Aquarian Weekly. http://www.theaquarian.com/2009/09/21/livan-happy-returns/. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 

External links